Botanical atlas

Autumn Coralroot

Corallorhiza odontorhiza

Autumn coralroot is one of the quiet oddities of the American woodland, a plant with no green leaves at all, living instead off a partnership with underground fungi. Nineteenth century Eclectic physicians and earlier folk practitioners dug its knotted, coral-shaped root and dried it for use as a diaphoretic and febrifuge, something to bring on a sweat and help break a stubborn fever. It held an official place in the United States Pharmacopoeia for over a century, prescribed for typhoid fevers, pleurisy, and the drenching night sweats that came with them. By the early twentieth century, as more common herbs took its place in practice, coralroot largely faded from everyday use and now survives mostly as a historical curiosity noted in old dispensatories.

Safety.

This orchid is not documented as toxic, but it has little modern safety research and no reliable dosing information, so it is best treated as a botanical curiosity rather than a remedy. It is also uncommon and cannot be cultivated, so any wild harvest should be minimal.